“Good people pass away, the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die”
Isaiah 57
There are too many things that could be said about Dr. Ray Lubeck. Even after only seven years of working with and interacting with Dr. Ray Lubeck and Tamara, there are countless stories to tell, innumerable angles from which to honor him. My goal here is smaller and, in some ways, harder: to share the part of his life that I personally witnessed, the part that still glows in my memory. That part is what many have called the spark.
A steady light in chaos
I worked with Dr. Ray Lubeck at Multnomah University for many years. I stepped into the role of CAO/Provost in my 30s, tasked with leading a school under tremendous pressure: three presidents in five years, a global pandemic, severe financial challenges, and finally a school closure and merger. Through all of that chaos, something about Dr. Ray Lubeck never shifted. He simply refused to move his focus away from students. Whatever entered his sphere of influence, he met it with encouragement, quiet support, sharp wit, and a deep love for God.
There were long afternoons when we would sit and talk, and I would walk away with a strange mixture of laughter and clarity. Those conversations were rarely complicated. His wisdom came wrapped in simple, straightforward sentences, the kind that sound almost obvious until you realize they are quietly reordering your heart. In that season, when leadership felt heavy and the future uncertain, his constancy grew into friendship. Ray became a trusted friend not because he tried to impress, but because he remained faithful. Although I was much younger and inexperienced, he elevated my leadership by investing in me and supporting me.
Dr. Ray and Tamara’s shared ministry
It is impossible to talk about Dr. Ray Lubeck without talking about Tamara. She was there, at events, in hallways, and around tables, a living testimony to the bond they shared. Their presence together spoke even when they were not saying anything at all. Their marriage preached a sermon of its own, one that many generations of students and colleagues will not forget.
Their home was never just a private refuge. They opened their doors and invited students not only for visits but to live with them. That decision said something profound about their understanding of ministry. For them, the classroom was the starting point; the dinner table was the application. Theology did not end with a final exam. It was worked out over meals, late-night conversations, shared laughter, and the everyday routines of life. Many institutions talk about “community.” Dr. Ray Lubeck and Tamara quietly practiced it.
The Hebrew Bible Conference and “the spark”
One of the great honors of my time at Multnomah was serving Dr. Ray Lubeck as a faculty member and participating in the Hebrew Bible Conference in person. I am grateful for that conference for many reasons. Hundreds of former students came back to honor him, not just for his contribution to biblical scholarship, but for his contribution to their actual lives.
Thousands filled the room, and an impressive panel of speakers, from BibleProject to scholars from institutions like Harvard, along with renowned authors and theologians, stood and told their stories. Again and again, they credited Dr. Ray Lubeck for “the spark,” that initial ignition point that awakened something in them. For some, that spark became a torch; for others, an uncontrollable fire that still burns in their teaching, writing, and ministries. Listening to them, I realized that his influence was neither loud nor flashy. It was catalytic. He did not insist on center stage; he insisted on lighting matches in other people’s hands.
Losing friends, losing lenses
This past year has already been marked by loss. Losing Dr. Karl Kutz, another trusted friend, mentor, and older brother in the faith, left a deep wound that is still healing. The grief from that loss has resurfaced again and again, often in unexpected moments. The news of Dr. Ray Lubeck’s death pulled that pain back to the surface and then deepened it. It feels like the same wound, cut wider.
This is not just the loss of a friend, or even two friends. It feels like something more. Dr. Domani Hintze Pothen used to say that whenever someone left Multnomah, “we are losing a part of Jesus from here, a side of Jesus that we cannot see without that person.” That is what this season feels like. Without Karl and Ray, we are missing lenses through which we saw God’s truth and shekinah more clearly. We are losing sparks, sparks that would have continued to light up generations. All we can do now is pray that those who have been ignited by their lives will rise and carry the flame forward. The weight of that loss cannot be measured; it can only be felt as a kind of holy incompleteness.
Beyond an institution
There are many speculations and strong opinions about Multnomah, about Jessup, and about the story of Multnomah’s downfall. People will write articles and posts, and some of them will be right and some of them will miss the point entirely. From where I stand, there was one thing about Multnomah that was unquestionably worth fighting for: the godly men and women who poured themselves into students. Their expertise was unmatched; their kindness, rare; their combination of grace and grit, unmistakable.
Multnomah became one of the most important leadership lessons of my life. Leaders are called to lead people; managers manage things. When leaders start managing people, especially people like Dr. Ray Lubeck, the spark gets smothered. That experiment is always costly, and in the Kingdom of God, it is devastating. Yet his testimony rises above Multnomah’s history. His legacy extends beyond any institution’s branding or balance sheet. Without Dr. Ray Lubeck, without Karl, without others like them, Multnomah is just a name. The true soul of that education was never a curriculum or a catalog. It was the love, care, and holy fire that flowed through these godly, imperfect, deeply devoted servants of God.
Finishing well
Whatever you hear about Multnomah or Jessup, please hear this: Dr. Ray Lubeck never lost sight of his calling. He rose above the unworthy parts of institutional life. He stood tall for his students and colleagues and quietly defended the truest legacy of Multnomah. In his final months of service at the seminary, he did what he had always done; he lived up to the light he had kindled in others. That legacy is secure. No policy, no closure, no merger can erase it.
Many beautiful words will be spoken about Dr. Ray Lubeck by many people who knew him longer and better. What I want to honor here is his consistency, the way he lived the message he preached, in and out of the classroom, inside and outside the institution. Having seen that up close, the words of Isaiah 57 ring differently: “No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.”
Rest in peace, Dr. Ray Lubeck. You have finished well. We will join you in God’s timing, but until then, thank you for leaving us more than a single spark. Thank you for the countless fires now burning in lives all over the world, quiet but bright, carrying your light forward.
Please consider supporting Tamara and the family in this season of grief: https://gofund.me/00a195608
